Orange County NC Website
Joseph Burgo lives in Southern Village in Chapel Hill and asked the County Commissioners <br />to reallocate funding from Elementary School #10 to High School #3. He supports siting the <br />high school on Rock Haven Road. He said that if the high school were not sited in the <br />south, then all of the students in the south would be bussed to the north. <br />Rolf Glover said that his family is the owner of the 50 acres, which is the largest parcel that <br />comprises the Rock Haven Road site. He said that in the middle of last year, they signed a <br />contract to sell this land to a developer for $3 million, and the school board appraised it for <br />$1.6 million. The contract was terminated when the school board voted to seek the County <br />Commissioners' permission to acquire the land under the rationale that the developer could <br />not recoup their costs of trying to get a zoning change if the land was condemned. It is his <br />family's feeling that the $3 million value is the true value of this land. He said that the school <br />board based their value on an appraisal that they had done and his family feels that this <br />appraisal is seriously flawed. He said that the appraisal uses three comparable purchases, <br />all of which are located around the Eubanks Road site. He said that the school board is <br />basing their appraisal on the nation that their land is not suited for ahigh-density <br />development. He said that a high school is a very high-density development. For these <br />reasons, they feel that this land is worth about $3 million and they intend to do whatever <br />they can to get this amount for the land. <br />Marty Mandel is a resident of Carrboro and she is opposed to the Rock Haven site. She <br />said that this site will teach students that it is okay to condemn land and take it for a new <br />high school that would run possibly millions over budget, that it is okay to cut trees and level <br />land far hundreds of new parking places that add more traffic and more exhaust, and that it <br />is okay to build a Schaal site an an area that is partly in the watershed. She is a former <br />teacher and she finds this position unconscionable and unethical. She thinks that the two <br />existing high schools should be expanded on a temporary basis for the proposed new <br />students, and the Lincoln Center should be considered. She said that the CHCCS Board <br />should absolutely be required to stay within budget. She said that before choosing a new <br />site for a high school, the school board and the County should study future school needs <br />that include the northern transition areas and the possibility of merger with the Orange <br />County Schools. She said that existing schools needed improved and repaired. She would <br />like to have all schools pedestrian and bicycle accessible. She said that public <br />transportation should be of primary focus. <br />Kathy Tawney was representing an endorsement by the Mary Scroggs Elementary School <br />Parent Advisory Committee. She read a prepared statement. This committee strongly <br />supports the decision to locate the third high school in the southern part of the district as <br />recommended by the CHCCS district and the Board of Education. She said that putting the <br />high school in the part of the district where it is needed and cutting down on travel risks far <br />the children, transportation costs, and environmental impact seems to outweigh the <br />immediate short-term expense involved in purchasing this site. She asked if there was any <br />discussion about a type of urban school and the new nea-traditional high schools that she <br />has heard at the Town Council meetings. Also, she would like the County Commissioners to <br />recognize that there was discussion about increasing development in the southern part of <br />the district if the school is not there. The land that is designated as a possible site will be <br />used for development. This is another stress added to the need for a high school. She <br />made reference to the comment about condemning land and being an example. She said <br />that land was condemned to build highways towards Pittsboro recently. She does not think <br />that this request is a bad example since the Town has already done it. She reinforced the <br />